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Cymbals

Cymbals are something we can rarely compromise on. Whether your thing is a Terry Bozzio wall of metal, or the more modest kick, snare, hat vibe recently made popular by DW Drums and the likes of Aaron Spears, good cymbals are extremely important in expressing ourselves effectively on the drums.

The big names like Sabian, Zildjian and Paiste are a great place to start and make some of the best cymbals you'll find anywhere. Though some of their high-end cymbals may also be high in price, they will both sound and feel great to play. There are also lesser know companies such as Murat Diril and Dream who specialise in beautiful sounding, hand hammered cymbals. Even Stagg make some great budget cymbals that can hold their own against the competition.

You can take your cymbal selection even further when putting your setup together. This can be as simple as choosing cymbals that compliment and contrast effectively, mixing dark rides with light splashes, clean crashes with trashy chinas. You could also get more creative by using a pair of crashes to create some Thomas Pridgen style monster hi hats, or put together some splashes or small chinas to make super trashy stacks a la Dream Theatre's Mike Portnoy.

The real fun lies in being experimental and creative with cymbals. It comes through shaping your setup and endowing yourself with an inspiring array of sounds that allows you to express your unique voice to others.